Products that include images are a popular keepsake or gift for many people. Such products typically include a picture taken by an individual that is inserted into a product intended to enhance the presentation of the image or to provide storage for the image. Examples of such products include picture albums, posters, calendars, mugs, ornaments, mouse pads and post cards. Images can be enhanced in several ways, for example by image processing to modify the image content and thereby improve the perceived quality or value of the images. Images can also be combined with other images, for example templates including background images and one or more image openings into which an individual's image can be inserted, either mechanically or electronically with a computer, to form a combined image that displays the individual's image in a pleasing or preferred manner.
However, some users have difficulty in combining their images with available templates or other imaging-related product. For example, some people have difficulty accurately determining color, particularly on uncalibrated displays and under artificial lighting, so that matching colors in the image with colors in the template may not provide a pleasing result. Thus, it can be that available templates do not combine with a desired image to form an aesthetic result. Other people can have difficulty with color matching or do not desire to do color matching or otherwise select imaging-related products to complement their image. Moreover, simple color selections can lead to undesirable results. For example, the average color of an image is typically gray, even for colorful images. If the average color of an image is employed and is desired to match an imaging-related product, a gray product may be chosen. While such a neutral color may be acceptable to some, others can desire a more colorful product with more aesthetic appeal.
Some of these problems are addressed in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,192 entitled “Method of Producing a Matted Image Usable in a Scrapbook”, describes a method of producing a matted image usable in a scrapbook. The method comprises the steps of displaying a digital image having a matte area surrounding an image opening. A plurality of color selections from which a user can select a preferred color are provided and the selected color is used in the matte. The color selections can be obtained from an analysis of the digital image, thereby ensuring that the matte color matches a color from the digital image. However, simply selecting colors that occur frequently in an image can provide unacceptable results. For example, some colors may not be easily distinguishable to a viewer if they are part of a texture. Additionally, some colors may be found in image locations that do not complement a matte, or may correspond to colors that are unacceptable for a matte. While a user may choose a suitable color that overcomes these deficiencies, it is desirable to automate the color selection process to enable users to be efficient and effective.
It is known in the art to create color palettes by analyzing the colors in an image. Such color palettes can be used for purposes such as displaying digital images on color displays capable of representing only a limited number of colors (e.g., 256). For example, the article “A new approach to palette selection for color images” by Balasubramanian et al. (Journal Imaging Technology, Vol. 17, pp. 284-290, 1991) discloses a method for determining a palette of colors based on the distribution of colors in the input digital image. A similar method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,859,210 to Luo et al., entitled “Method for representing a digital color image using a set of palette colors based on detected important colors.” Such methods are also known to be useful for determining website color palettes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,711,291 describes the use of colors found in an image to provide a textual caption with a selected color within the image. The selected color can be found within the image by forming a color histogram of the entire image. Colors within the histogram are then candidate colors. A candidate color having suitable contrast with the area in which the textual caption is to be placed is selected and the textual caption of the suitably-contrasting color combined with the image. However, this process can still yield undesirable results. A color found in the histogram at a high frequency may be, for example, part of a large textured area that includes multiple colors. Thus, the high-frequency color used in, for example, a matte, may not provide a pleasing combination, since the specific color within the textured area may not be readily apparent to a viewer.
There is a need therefore, for an improved method for selecting a color from within an image and matching the color to an imaging-related product with which the image is to be combined.